We're Baaaack

What a crazy weekend! It was super good to be with family and help out but it was busy! Along with Brent's immediate family having a part in the Craft Sale, his Uncle Ron and Auntie Bev as well as two married cousins, Suzanne and Michelle, have their own tables at the sale and as a consequent, spent at least part of the weekend at the B. household. It was fabulous to see all the little kids, and play with them. As well, we got a chance to see my mum and two of my brothers as they came to help set up Friday night. Also, we got to go for coffee with Marco and Kristin de Andrade, a couple we're friends with who got married two weeks before us. We had a really good visit with them. Went to church Sunday morning and were blessed with fantastic worship with Beth and her team. It was strange to be in the congregation instead of singing with her. I miss it a lot! However, all good things must come to and end and we left the B. at half-time of the Gray Cup last night. Eskies won woohoo! (Sorry Kevin). :) Bouwsemas' sent us home with a big container of cinnamon buns (yum! Thanks Dad!) Now we're fully back into the swing of school for the week. I've got a paper due Thursday (the deadline was pushed back two days from Tuesday, which is a huge blessing). We also have a bunch of other obligations for the week; assignments and other things, and poem-writing, for next weekend is Saint Nicholas Day at S., and that involves writing a poem for another member of the family. So, busy week ahead!

Life Goes On!

well, its bit a been since i've posted, so i was 'told' to do so :) yesterday was great! i wasn't feeling too good so i decided to sleep in and skip my first class, code class. its not a bad class, pretty important in the whole scheme of things, just most people fall asleep in it. the instructor knows his stuff, that is for sure. he is an architect who produces municipal code packages for individual towns off of the alberta building code. so needless to say, he knows his stuff real well, but he is sooooooo boring. maybe it is the material, i mean, how interesting is the national building code, really (not that many people even know what that is!) there is one guy in my class for instance. he makes sure he always sits at the back of the class so once he falls asleep his head can fall back and rest against the back wall of the classroom... one of these days i can't wait to hear him snore in class :) where was i? oh yah, skipping class. anyways.... i skipped class, slept in, and decided to skip the next class as well. the next class was drafting, and three hour class... all manual pencil drafting. i like it a lot, but it can be a bit too slow for me, since i know how to draft on the computer already. so i decided to skip it and make the big bucks at home :) (drafting for real!) so i went to drafting class today and found out that the most people did in the class the day before was draw their border on their paper, a half an hour feat for the best of us! so i felt pretty good that i didn't miss it. my table-mate also skipped, he is working on a record for the most consecutive days snowboarding. with tonight, i think his record is up to seven days in a row, and only getting more and more. crazy people i tell you! i'd have to say the best song i listened to yet today is "always and forever" by kip, napoleon dynamites can't-get-a-job-and-a-major-loser-brother! its so hilarious to hear him sing this song to his newly married wife that i just had to find it, so i did, and now i listen to it at least once a day for a good laugh! other than that i'd have to say me and my lit' brothers weird sounds passed back and forth tonight would come in a close second! shhhh, no telling what they are, its a secret :) anyways, its time for a good book, or a good sleep! male 1/2

How Many Days Until Christmas?

Day #2 of Whiney Sick Kirstin Slept in today and skipped Philosophy class, which may not have been the wisest thing to do, but I slept through the morning, and that it was lovely. Natural help for sore throats: Lemon and Honey. Learned the trick from my friend Rachel, who fed me L & H at camp when I was run down over the course of the summer. Full cup of hot water and enough lemon and honey so that they balance out and it's not too sweet but sweet enough to mellow out the lemon and lemoney enough to sooth your throat without making you pucker. It's great but we're almost out of lemon concentrate! Apparently it has antiseptic/antibacterial qualities. This weekend is the Craft Sale in Lacombe. We're going home to help out a bit and just be around because it's always an exciting time in the B. Household. I'm hoping to see some people I haven't had a chance to see in a while. It's amazing the people you see at the sale. Also, Archibalds' cinnamon buns. Mmmmm....

A Sick and Yucky Monday Night

Monday night, as everyone 'should' know, is Corner Gas night, as well as CSI: Miami night. Woohoo! It's usually also laundry night but I'm feeling so yucky that all that's been done is a load of Brent's jeans...and he did them. I'm trying to work up the energy to go do dishes as the kitchen's a bit of a mess. Inspired by Kristin and her peanut butter cookies, I've also considered making cookies, but I just won't enjoy them very much since it hurts to swallow. Have you caught that I'm being whiney yet?? Brent's putting up with me pretty well so far. Kirstin's cold: came from Brent who caught it from Kevin. As for where Kevin caught it, I do not know. I've also been struggling through my philosophy homework. I will be SO GLAD when this semester is over and I never have to look at this stuff again. It's waaay too much like Grade 12 math for me. I have one major paper left to write this semester, on Stalin's leadership during WW II. I picked up a couple books at our local public library. It seems I'm slow off the line: someone has taken all the books on this topic out of the U of C library already. Potlickin garbage. Almost enough to make me swear, especially the way I'm feeling right now... ...and that's my cue to stop whining and either go to bed or get something done. so G'night!

What I learned in school today: Chief Piapot was a Cree Chief in the late nineteenth century, during the times when the Canadian government was coercing the Natives into signing treaties, whether or not they understood what they were signing away. He was an amazing leader, he had 4000 followers who followed him purely because he had their confidence in his abilities. He kept his people from participating with the Metis in the Riel Rebellion and from killing the North West Mounted Police who were participating in the subjugation through starvation of the Plains Natives in this time. He led his people until well into his nineties. He was an admirable man and our modern political leaders could learn much from his leadership abilities.

Engagement Picture taken October 2004. 

Our family as it stands today. Taken at Gull Lake on a blustery day in October prior to a geocaching hunt.

Brent saving Kirstin from a giant woman-eating rock at Hidden Lake in Kananaskis 

Malls...

we went to market mall tonight to see if we couldn't pinpoint a gift we are thinking purchasing for someone. personally i don't really like malls all that much, too many people. but it is fun to window shop and the coffee from starbucks has to definitly be a good highlight of the trips! haven't had a chance to listen to much music today but we did on the way to the mall. will have to pick out "another postcard" by barenaked ladies for today's song pick. its so silly, chimps in swimsuits, chimps swinging from a vine, chimps in jackboots, chimps that wish they could be mine... such great lyrics! the song is pretty tight, very well written and arranged. that will definitly have to be the song for today! kirstin's favorite right now too. i'm feeling a wee bit tired after dealing with the mall... maybe its time for a movie! that's all folks, male 1/2

Second post (oh wow)

Kirstin here. I'm procrastinating editing my two papers that are due tomorrow and this is a good excuse as any to avoid editing (my least favorite part of paper-writing). Quote for the day: was reading a Madeline L'Engle book that I read as a teenager and found this quote "Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God". That got me to thinking about Raffi, for some reason, because I remember my mum saying that when her dad died in '89 she took solace in Raffi's song "Everything Grows". Can't explain that thought sequence much further than it's amazing how our streamline of conscious flows, hey? If you haven't read Ring of Endless Light or any of L'Engle's books, do. They are incredible. Lots of theological content, meaning of life, existence of other worlds, existence of eternity. Lots to ponder. Also, do find some Raffi. He truly is full of joy. As my friend Niels once said, I wish I had a voice as good as Raffi's. Last thoughts before returning to editing: Today for the second time I passed a man with down sydrome on campus. Last time I met him I had just been pondering how unfriendly people are as they walk to and fro across campus. Then I saw him and he met my eyes and said "Hi!" and I said Hi back. Today when I saw him he was singing heartily. It was fantastic. I wish I was so uninhibited that I could walk across campus singing--probably I would sing Raffi. We should all be more like this man...or like Forrest Gump, actually. "Hello, my name's Forrest, Forrest Gump." Off to editing "David Thompson: Cartographer, Surveyor, Natural Historian"

First Post!

Hey everyone (well, "no one" since we haven't told anyone about this yet!) This is our first post on this blog, and already I'm sick and tired of capitalizing, so don't expect it to happen very often! we've had a few friends and family start blogs lately and thought we'd hop on the bandwagon. i can't always promise that this blog will be interesting or fun, but it is us, and who we are each and everyday. to start of the ramblings i'd like to say that every time i listen to Christmas music it makes me want the holidays and family that much more! gotta stop listening to it, but it just draws me in. kinda reminds me of my parents home. since my mom paints Christmassy ornaments well into the start of fall she has serenaded us, from a young age, with Christmas music well before it should even be brought out of the cupboard! so its a good reminder of those days when the snow was high and we were stuck at home from school (darn!). well, that starts off things here. we'll try to keep up to date on this blog with our daily thoughts or weird things we've seen on our daily bus commute (reminds of a good story... but it will have to wait)! we both love music a lot so once a day we'll pick out our favorite songs or artists we had listened to that day. that’s all folks, male 1/2